ARTS FOR ALL THE AGES

ARTS FOR ALL THE AGES by Barbara Biddison

Hamilton-Gibson has always been all-inclusive. This June 2024 has been a true example of
that. In the Warehouse Theatre I saw a dress rehearsal of Once Upon a Crime in mid-June, and
less than two weeks later I saw in Whitneyville the Theater Arts Camp show for Kids.. In
one the cast was made up of the very young, and the over-50s, and all ages in between---- and
in the other it was "all kids"!! But that's not all there is to putting on a play. Everybody knows
there's got to be a director, and for these two that would be Himmelberger for the Warehouse
event and Putnam for Whitneyville kids in "Perchance to Dream." And we do need more than a
director to pull it all together.

In "Dream" we saw the work of interns for music and dance, staff of ages from teens to the older
folk, presenters during camp "dream" focus, and so many more who held the whole thing
together. And for the regular "fairy-tale courtroom play" there were the "official" crew
members to handle lights, and sound, and costumes, and backstage and publicity, and posters.
Different needs for different kinds of shows and different venues as well as for different kinds of
performers.

In both, Once Upon a Crime and “Perchance to Dream”, there are vocal and body-movement
skills to be learned and become familiar with. There's a lot more dance-type movement in the
kids camp show, and there's a lot more "character-posturing" movement for Once Upon a
Crime.
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I love it when the program tells you (Once Upon a Crime) that thanks go to a real judge for the
loan of a real gavel.... and (“Perchance to Dream”). that one of the presenters brought
information on "Dreamcatchers."
I offer this blog as just some evidence of the kind of variety that Hamilton-Gibson has provided
for over 30 years now. It truly is community theater,